Better to say My Boyfriend
by EsperSY
Summary: A series of drabbles from Varil's point of view throughout the whole adventure with Pratty from the day they first met to the day she succeeded her father, also how his feelings for her began to grow and intoxicate him. To a degree that, of course, Varil is uncomfortable with. VarilXPratty, mild RashoXPratty.
1. The day I meet the idiot

**Better to say "My Boyfriend"**

_(A/N: Attempting a series of drabbles for the egoistic brat of the house. Eh, I always have a soft spot for little kawaii tsundere punks like Varil anyways. Please note that I don't have the strongest of memories, so I might not have the dialogues exactly like in the game, thus I seek forgiveness in advance.)_

* * *

"_Aren't you satisfied with that? Is it better to say than 'my boyfriend'?"_

Those two questions had been echoing in my head for the longest time, with each and every step I took after that day when she said that. We were at the Gold Guild that time, when she had agreed to accompany me to face my father. As embarrassing as this sound, I'm glad she did, because I would have never accomplished such a heavy task alone. She stood there beside me, backing me up as I questioned my father. Her presence pushed me to be much braver than I can imagine, though perhaps it's the fact that she's a girl. ...Or that she's the only friend I have. Or both. But definitely not as a 'girlfriend'.

Pratty. Ha, I remember how amused I was when she introduced herself, such a stupid name. It fits her though, because she even looks stupid. After the short amount of time talking to her and that brash Guardian Beast floating around her, it dawned on me that her stupidity is the most recognizable quirk she displayed.

_"And do you always speak before thinking? It won't be long before my master is stronger than you," _her Guardian Beast piped up in her defence the second her face contorted into a rather vulnerable glint after one of my infamous verbal attacks. Rasho is the beast's name, if I remember it right. Back then, I shrugged off that warning as if it's the most insignificant matter exist in the events of my life, but now... Heh. It must be fate responding to that warning by arranging our very first battle with each other at the harbour. I guess I was impatient to show off my skills with the best newly-crafted spear ever made in my guild at the time that caused me to be so hasty.

While I was raising my lance to make the first move, that was it. That was the time when I first saw a different shade of this idiot in front of me. Perhaps it was how imbalanced her stance is yet so self-assured, or perhaps it was how she equipped that drill around her fist with pride and modesty all at the same time, or maybe...just maybe, of how her eyes glistened in response of a commencing battle. There is no insecurities like before, nor are there fear or diffidence. There is absolutely none of that; I can't even detect the smallest speck of doubt in her fixed gaze.

What's more is she didn't look like an idiot at all right at that moment.  
That got me off-balanced.

Her Guardian Beast stood back, only reacting to her orders, and when she did ordered, he answered to it effectively. It surprised me in the middle of the fight to have witnessed such a team, it's almost like they're connected. Not perfectly, but enough to startle me. I was caught in surprise when the sound of her novice drill clashing against my flawless lance brought me up to reality. Then, the horrible noise of shattering. She freaking broke my perfectly-crafted spear...using such a cruddy weapon.

I was so utterly befuddled by the sight of my weapon breaking into pieces; I only stood there staring at my hand and the crushing shaft.  
Just who is this idiot?

Rasho hollered out a victory cry, while this odd girl who defeated me only fell on her knees, wiped a trail of sweat on her forehead and sighed contently. I was chained to the ground for a moment, but thankfully Nigelle brought me back to my senses by resting his hand on my shoulder, indicating comfort. I shrugged off his hand, angry and confused of how impossible it is for this amateur to beat me...yet, it just happened.

Pratty didn't scoffed at me or rubbing her victory in my face, like Sanary who's standing close by, but merely just stared at me with such sympathized eyes, it pisses me off more. That's the moment when my mind was made up; to have this idiot as my rival.

* * *

_(A/N: Well now. This is actually a full-blown huge one-shot originally, but my fingers won't stop typing so it became...eh...long. Thus, I have to cut the whole thing in pieces so it can be like these series of drabbles. It's still unfinished, and I never meant to post it in fanfiction in the first place, but I just re-read the whole thing after...almost 2 years of ignoring its existence, and it gave me the squee. So... what the heck.)_


	2. The night I saw her smile

_(A/N: Do you know how hard it is to cut a full written one-shot into tiny little pieces like these? It is a challenge, I tell you.)_

* * *

_"Really? You did? Varil, that's wonderful! Thank you so much!" _I was honestly surprised when she showed up by the fountain that very night after the battle, and thanking me when I told her I had settled the problem of selling out meagre weapons made by apprentice craftknights outside of Wystern. She was smiling too, and I was rendered completely awestruck by the sight. It was the first time I saw her grinning. The first time I saw Pratty...happy.

_"I didn't do it for you! ...I'm going home!" _It's strange, I wasn't normally that imbalanced. Thinking back, I'm embarrassed of myself, for lying to her. She's the core of my entire accomplishment for halting the weapon sell-out earlier. If she didn't bring it to my attention, then I would have never noticed the whole conspiracy. As the eldest son of the Gold Guild, I know everything, but father twisted the facts so much, I actually thought what he did was right. Mass products, I will never believe the quality they serve in a million years now. ...Thanks to Pratty.

In fact, she began to open my eyes to a lot of things; it surprises me how much 'a lot' really is.  
Pratty even got me talking a lot too. Nigelle's the first one who saw that change within me, before I noticed it myself.

_"I'm the eldest son of the Gold Guild, I know everything. For instance, Razzy is a little girl who's madly fond of you, among other things..." _I cracked a joke one night, and it took all my strength to cast off my ego to speak this out too. But apparently, Pratty, ever the eternal idiot, didn't have enough intelligence to catch it as a joke. In fact, her reaction is quite the opposite.

_"What? No way!" _Anger. This is, if memory serves, the first time she genuinely was angry at me. Perhaps it's too much of a subject to be made as a laughing matter. Oh right, this is Pratty I'm talking about, she takes anything that involves her circle of friends seriously.

_"I was kidding!" _I snapped with the same vigour and tone as her.

_"...Oh. You were joking?"  
_Damn this eternal idiot. ...Though perhaps this is my fault. Since I already assume she lacks the mental capacity to handle conversations that I found to be funny, it's only natural for her to respond so stupidly. I blame her idiocy. To explain this to her in a more low-leveled language so she could understand...  
_"Hm. I thought you'd feel better if I made a joke, but I guess it didn't worked out as I hoped... Forget it."_

I remember I asked Nigelle how to crack a decent joke the moment I was back in the Gold Guild that very night.  
Is this idiot infecting me? She even sparked an urge within me to make her feel better. ...Yes, she's poisoning me with the ideas of friends being important.


	3. Broken Defenses

She **is **poisoning me with the ideas of friends being important, but that sort of toxic is, fortunately, unable to affect me, mainly because I have no such things as friends. Friends, or people in general, slows me down considerably. I despise the idea of being constricted by this unspoken law that would tie me up with another soul. Wouldn't that double the burden?

What is friendship? What is the benefit of friendship? I see none that could potentially gain me profit, so I refuse to forge such a foolish bond.

This brings a piece of memory of when I saw her match against a pair of twins with the most remarkable team-cooperation. Though knowing of how amazing the twins are, I still have absolutely no doubts that she will beat them, and she did. Barely. What surprises me is after she defeated them, she actually asked the twins to be friends with her. I clenched my jaws from the spectator's stand. Is this the same person who has beaten me? Just what is this idiot thinking? That's not how the competition works at all! I made sure to express my annoyance if she stops by the park that night.

Thankfully, she did.

_"Hey Pratty... Thank you for making me watch that match earlier..." _I started slowly, but not giving her even a moment of chance to react before I changed my tone.

_"That was completely gutless! You weren't focused. You were powerless. You had no spirit. You were nowhere near as strong as the time you defeated me!"_

I was on a roll that day. Earlier, I managed to insult a fellow craftknight of his crafting skills, then moved on to a random girl with the stupidest guardian beast, so I just know that Pratty's the prefect person to end that day with.

_"...That's not a nice thing to say.." _And being the idiot that she is, she takes it calmly without any fight whatsoever. So I tried to take a second shot at it...

_"Are you saying that you didn't fight with all your heart just because they're women?"  
"No way! I fought the absolute best I could!" _Ah, that's the fire I've been wanting to see. Okay, now that I know she's not missing that important aspect of herself, it's safe for me to be honest about the whole thing.

_"Uh-huh, and you asked them to be friends with you after the battle, right? Don't get me wrong. I know that girls get together all the time. I just don't think that you should."_

Like I expected, the fire in those metallic blue eyes cease down gently into a confused glance, _"Why not? There's nothing wrong with making friends."_

Now, this is when I surprise myself. This is the moment where I realized what Nigelle said about me beginning to talk more is a fact.  
_"But people who are always with other people lose their edge in time. My father, the leader of the Gold Guild... If you're not careful, you might become a coward like him," _it hits me a little too late that I'm uncovering my worries to a complete idiot. But I was too absorbed with my issues to realize that, _"Gutless people can't protect anything... Not even what is most important to them... That's why my father didn't protect my mother. He was definitely not a real man..."_

After that was said, I was alarmed. It concerns me that by just looking in her eyes, all my worries and secrets freely passed my lips. This triggered a built-in defence mechanism in me because right after that, I stomped away...angrily, even. Perhaps this is fairly new to me, to be uncovering something that I so closely protect, to a complete idiot.

I sped my way up the stairs towards the second level of Wystern with anger still bubbling inside me. It simply pisses me off of how she could do that, to so easily break my impenetrable defense... Both physically and emotionally. She had shattered through my perfect defensive lance strike at the harbour by literally breaking my spear, and now she's breaking her way in my layers upon layers of walls that I constructed inside me.

Those walls are meant to protect me... They were meant to keep me strong, that I am unreachable to weaknesses.

But this girl...

I stopped abruptly on my tracks. My hands are in tight fists, and my breathing is ragged by holding in an immeasurable amount of wrath. I closed my eyes tightly, inhaling it the scent of sea water, and then exhaling out slowly. ...Perhaps she was challenging me. Perhaps she wanted me to be stronger, to never let her sneak in my defenses again.

As I had confirmed that in my mind, I opened my eyes. I was staring straight at a large crack on the metal floor. There are many large spaces and cracks like this on the second level, so I could easily see the buildings under me on the first level. What surprises me is in between that crack, I could see a gleam of silver hair.

Pratty is walking her way back home, her slow pace depicting that she must have something bothering her mind. Though suddenly, she halted her steps. My eyes widened. Very slowly, she raised up her chin, and her eyes locked in contact with mine. It astonished me so much, I almost stepped back from the crack, but the peculiar way her eyes looked had made me chained to the ground.

Pratty moved up both her hands and clasped her palms together in front of her face, her eyes seemed rather drab compared to the liveliness and spark I've always liked to see. It took me a moment to realize that at the sight of me, Pratty was actually apologizing from down there, based on her body language, and how her eyes shone.

_"I'm sorry...!"_ I couldn't hear her voice, but I could see her lips mouthing that.

Her mere action to simply apologize to me somehow made me smirk, perhaps it was because of how small she looked down there, or for the fact that I'm standing above her and I felt superior over her, or perhaps...it was because of her dreary eyes. I don't like how they looked at the time.

With a sigh, I nodded at her as a response, mouthing _"Okay, okay.." _towards her. At that, her eyes brightens and her spark returned. She clapped her hands together almost excitedly and smiled up at me, happily. Then she brings up both of her index fingers at the sides of her lips, pulling her mouth wide into a grin. She's signalling me to smile.

I couldn't help it. I had never met anyone so intent on comforting me to feel better, so I obliged, pulling my lips wide and graced upon her the biggest grin I could manage.

My actions somehow froze her, her hands seemed to be going numb as it dropped to her sides and her eyes staring up intently, almost in awe, at me. Her response to my smile confused me, so my smile dropped into an instant frown. Seeing how my grin had disappeared, Pratty shook her head violently and signaled me to smile again.

_"No!" _I mouthed at her, still rather confused of her earlier reaction. Was my smile that utterly displeasing that she dropped her own mirth just by the sight of it?

Pratty laughed down there, her laughter resonated faintly from below, and then finally gave me a big thumbs up. I blinked at her, wondering what in the world is she trying to signal me. Though before I could figure it out, Pratty opened up her fingers from her fist and waved at me, seeming to have saw someone in the distance calling her, so she hurried off.

I could only shook my head at that strange craftknight as I made my way to the Gold Guild. Just what was that idiot trying to say to me earlier?

I can never understand idiots.

* * *

_(A/N: Yes, those dialogues are exactly from the game, I didn't alter any of it. So these are actual canon going on...except that small bit of scene I added at the end. I'm holding myself back so much from writing out Varil's past by JUST using these dialogues, it's amazing how this game could easily give a detour for its players to imagine what really happened behind the dialogue...for fanfic writers to grab their keyboard and try to take a go at it.)_


	4. Contradictions

_"Hey, Varil. Is there anything we can do?" _Pratty asked me one night at the park, concerned about the fact that Diegleyan soldiers just attacked her and Master Rondeau that very evening. That look in her face reminds me that she's still just a girl, despite being a remarkable fighter and a decent Craftknight. She's so small, yet she has the biggest hopes and dreams to change the world, to make it a better place. Seeing that expression, I softened down.

_"Take it easy. That's older people's business. Our first step is still becoming a Craftlord. You can't find anything even if you want more."_

My words sparked a sort of calmness in her eyes as it shone through her face. Pratty smiled, turning to me with a nod.

That's all it takes. That's all it takes to make her gain back her balance. This quick recovery startled me, but only by a slight bit. I looked away from her smile automatically, turning my face away so she can't see how my expression must have looked like. Pratty just chuckled softly and politely bids goodbye. I'm not sure if I'm thankful that she's kind enough to notice my awkward silence and left me alone so my ego won't be challenged...or she pitied me in my confused state and decided to spare me of future humiliation.  
Either way, I'm both glad but disappointed that she left.

Yes, I have started to contradict myself because of this idiot.

* * *

_(A/N: Sorry for the extremely short chapter. It's because the next one is arguably rather long and I didn't want to combine it with this chapter.)_


	5. Infatuation

_(A/N: And this is when I decided to go crazy and stray off from the game's storyline a slight bit. My apologies, I believe it's because I can't bear anything to restrict my creativity to mutilate things from their original source. Please forgive me, Varil is just too fun. I promise, I'll get right back on track in the next chapter.)_

* * *

One morning, Nigelle just randomly informed me of an old saying that if you want to know how a girl will act once she's married; observe her mother. I was so taken aback by this sudden information that I scoffed at the butler.

Why would I be interested in observing how a girl behaves once she's married? There's no reason for me to be curious at all. I didn't realize, at the time, that I had subconsciously taken the advice into consideration at the back of my mind.

It seems as if fate really loves to watch me squirm because a few days after that, my sources reported to me that there's a strange man floated by at the docks. Upon arriving, I noticed Sanary and Razzy were already there, helping a red-haired woman pulling up the man on our dry metallic land. Just when I was in earshot of what they're discussing, Razzy suddenly shouted.

_"Oh, Big Sis! You're finally here!"_

I whirled around, and indeed, the idiot of the town has finally arrived.  
...Not that I was glad she's there or anything.

_"Oh, Mother and Sanary are here too," _Pratty uttered almost blankly, and that one simple sentence rendered me silent. My eyes must have widened a bit, because I was staring into the nothingness of air, trying to process that one sentence.

Slowly, my head turned to the only woman in the group; this gentle-looking lady with semi-long red hair and a very reserved expression. Her eyes are closed in a soft way that almost seemed dangerous. I stared dumbly at her, totally blocking any sounds from entering my ears while Pratty and Sanary are discussing with each other on what's going on.

_"Your mom's trying to find out what happened to him," _Sanary's words entered my head somehow, even with my ears blocking the sounds. I was completely speechless as I stared at the woman, who's trying to question the amnesiac of his well-being. Nigelle's strange old saying echoed in my head exactly the way he had said it, and though the logical part of my mind refused to believe such a stupid saying since there's no proof or explanation whatsoever that freely determines a person's way of acting is similar to their parents, I just can't stop staring at the woman.

One thought whispered in my mind silently, _'Is Pratty going to be just like that when she's married?'_

A split second after that whisper was heard inside the void of my brilliant mind, I violently shook my head. Why would I think such a thing? I don't care how Pratty is going to turn out when she's married, or who she'll marry for that matter-

The buzz in my thought suddenly paused in alarm...and then beginning to charge right back to a more rigorous gear. Who WILL she marry? She mentioned a lot about Sakuro... Rasho is an even scarier thought. Another violent shook of the head. What was I thinking?

_"Oh, Pratty, you're here right when I need you. Can you carry this young man to our house? He needs rest and a good meal to regain his strength,"_ requested the woman. I snapped out of my thought just in time to hear Pratty's optimistic, _"You got it!" _I instantly turned my attention to the man who got washed here, still dripping wet and weak, but of course larger and heavier than Pratty. Why would this woman ordered her small scrawny daughter to lug this guy all the way to the other side of Wystern itself, their house is literally at the furthest corner from the port.

_"I can handle it." _A deep voice responded out of the blue.

Ah right, her Guardian Beast. I had almost forgotten about him. Seeing that there's no point in me being there anymore, I was about to be on my way off when...

_"Hey, you over there, help us!"_

I paused my steps, _"Who? Me?" _The red-haired woman had her attention right at me and just smiled ever so gently, _"Yes, you. This is a man's job." _I hesitated, and for that short second, I casted a glance to Pratty, who looked at me with those usual stupid eyes, and then I noticed Rasho frowning. My eyes were fixated into that frown, and then he freaking glared at me. Quite surprised by this sudden murderous glance, my hesitation sounded pretty clear, _"Umm... But..."_

_"Oh boy, you don't want to get into an argument with me over this.."_

Pratty's mother suddenly whispered in an almost deadly tone, which broke my defences instantly by that mere dangerous slant of her eyes directed right towards me. _"Uhh... Yeah...okay." _That has been the best choice of my entire life, and I'm forever grateful I agreed.

_"Boy, you are one stupid human if you ever cross Amariss," _Rasho had whispered to me while the three of us were carrying the man. I turned to him with my eyebrows creasing in confusion, still utterly shocked by what just happened actually. How did I immediately agreed to that woman's request so easily, and she just used one threatening look. A _very_ threatening look. Pratty caught my shock rather quickly and smiled, _"Ahaha.. I'm sorry if my mother scared you, Varil."_

Of course, I frowned at her baseless assumption and stood my ground, _"I was not scared. I had merely accepted her request."  
_I was just startled because Pratty's face just overlapped with her mother's when Amariss threatened me. Now I can easily believe how Pratty would turn out once she became somebody's wife.

_"Psh, you just 'accepted' her request because I had promptly signalled you to GO with it."_

Rasho sneered. Oh, so that death glare was meant to save me from a woman's mysterious wrath. How generous of him.

Since the man's clothes are still wet and soggy, it didn't take long for my own shirt to get wet with his arm slung over my shoulders. Pratty got his other arm, but since she didn't look like she can take all that weight herself, Rasho's at her side assisting her. _"I hope he's okay..." _she had uttered softly and turned her head sideways to glance at the half-unconscious man. I cornered my eyes, and I could see how clear her face is...and how close she is. With the god-forsaken guy's head in between our distance, that is.

_"Varil, are you okay? You look a little spaced out."_

I grunted as a response, no way I'd tell her that I just thought of how she acted like when she's married. Pratty tilted her head slightly with a frown, but lead the way to her house anyway, where the others were waiting since they took a head-start towards there.

Upon stepping inside the modest house she and her mother lived in, I had to wonder for a moment if everything's worth it. If helping this man is worth it, if even getting involved with all the craziness this idiot attract is worth it.

_"Pratty, would you mind fetching some dry clothes for this man?" _The red-haired woman asked her daughter. My head immediately spun towards Pratty, who's pretty soaked herself from having to carry a soggy man all the way from the docks to her house. Said Pratty was busy stretching her arm from carrying the man for so long, so she just calmly looked up to her mother and smiled.

_"Yes, mother." _Seeing her being so respectful of her maternal figure kind of pierced something inside me in all the wrong directions. Just when that's happening internally, her serene voice woke me up.

_"Varil, you're pretty soggy too.. Come on up, I'll fetch you a towel."_

...Did she just invited me inside her room? Alone? Together? With her? ...What.

Despite her invitation that just froze my brain, my body complied to her wishes...well, my wishes as well, and strutted up the staircase with her and entered the open door of where Pratty has grown up in. The girl just briskly went up to the corner of the room and pulled a towel that was hanging there. She threw the towel to me without even explaining much and went off outside of her room in a quick pace.

_"Um..." _After catching the towel, I spun around to follow her with my eyes, trying desperately to catch even a slight bit of her attention.

Pratty had disappeared into another room, leaving the door open and allowing me to take a look inside after a short stride there. The silver-haired craftknight is trying to reach something above a cupboard she's currently leaning on, and my eyebrows immediately shot up high by her figure that was graciously revealed to me.

Since she's stretching herself like that, I could clearly see her abdomen curves down smoothly before extending out the curve of her backside. Despite myself, I found my eyes immediately locked to her rump. Somehow, just by the sight of it, I found myself swallowing my spit.

She had apparently heard me approached the door and turned around to face me, _"Say Varil, can you get that thing for me?" _It took me a short moment to shook myself awake and remind myself that she's trying to reach something from the top shelf of the cupboard there.

Having no idea what that 'thing' is, I just stepped in beside her and reached up to the compartment. In that short moment, the corner of my eyes caught how she looked up at me from my side. Pratty is actually pretty small in size when I place myself standing beside her, now that I notice. My fingers easily slid inside the little space up there where I can pull the whole luggage compartment down. Catching the thing with both of my hands, I realized it's like a small box, apparently filled with old clothes inside.

_"Thanks." _She smiled, now checking the folds of clothes inside the box I'm holding. It wasn't too hard to guess that all these clothes belonged to her late father, Shintetsu. Pratty pulled out a pair that she thought would fit the man who was washed ashore earlier, and throws it on her shoulder. Her eyes lifted up to face me after that, probably just about to ask me to put the box back up, but Pratty is never dry with surprises.

_"Varil, I gave you a towel to dry yourself. Come on, do you really want me to do it instead?" _I can hear the laughter in her voice as she joked, but it seemed as if she's actually serious about it. I got a bit flustered when I see her arms reaching out to the towel I've hanged around my neck, then gently dries my face using it. I wished so hard that the heat I felt on my face was not a sign that I'm blushing.

Pratty didn't seem to notice though as she moved up to dry my hair next using the towel. I can smell her scent in that towel and this had certainly made me heat up the more she rubbed my hair. Suddenly, Pratty screeched. It surprised me so much, I stepped back from her with wide eyes.

_"What?!" _I immediately questioned. The panic inside me drastically went down the drain when I realized the sight before me was a blushing Pratty. My jaw dropped without me even realizing this, and we were both silent for a long while. I was confused, but so deeply entranced by how rattled she looked, it's actually quite a pleasant sight to see.

_"V-Varil, I'm sorry! I used my own personal towel to dry you off just now! I'm so sorry! I didn't realized I gave you mine..!" _By the tone of her voice, she obviously expected me to be furious of her bumbling mistake. While inwardly, I was actually feeling rather...invoked. Excited, appealed...and aroused, even. Shaking my head sideways, I decided to outwardly respond to Pratty by only glaring at her and reached up to place back the box in its compartment.

_"..I'm sorry..." _She whispered guiltily with her head down. I turned to look at her, and just by the sight of her looking so embarrassed and ashamed like that is seriously triggering frightening wishes from the back of my mind to just pin her down. _"It's fine, Pratty. It's just a towel." _It's her personal towel, I remind myself inwardly. I'm very happy to know that the same towel she used to dry herself off from showering is the same one she used to wipe my face just now.

_"...Varil, you're grinning.. A-and you're scaring me.."_

...This girl. I took in a long inhale to calm myself from getting lost in my loathful desire from simply alarming her, before finally moving away from her and urged her to quickly do her task in giving the clothes to the man downstairs. Pratty nodded in an unfocused manner by the urgency of my voice before quickly scampered off downstairs.

I stood still there quietly, taking my time to simply breathe and taking control of myself. Wiping a hand down my face, I can still remember the sight of the curves of her body, the soft tone of her voice, the sweet scent of her towel, the gentleness of her touch, the warmth of her hands through the fabric of her towel. This all leads to one logical conclusion:

I am actually infatuated with that idiot.

* * *

_(A/N: Yep. Longest word count in one chapter. I wrote this while my muse is off, so I apologize for my awful forced writing here, geh. Well then, the next chapter is the trip to Silturn I believe, but I needed to play the game again because I forgot to record my playthrough in that place. Thus, next chapter might be a while to write. If I get reviews though, I'll try not to let anyone down. Thank you for reading~)_


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